Cognizant to lay off 3,500 employees

REVENUES DECLINING FOR PAST 3 QUARTERS

- SAMEER RANJAN BAKSHI

NEW JERSEY-HEADQUARTERED IT SERVICES company Cognizant, which has been seeing its revenue declining marginally for the last three quarters, announced that it will lay off 3500 employees (1% of its workforce) to help strengthen its declining margins. The IT firm is also looking to give up office spaces to conserve cash.

The company saw its operating margin below 15% at 14.6% during the January-March quarter. For the full year, it gave an operating margin guidance in the range of 14.2-14.7%.

The IT giant's total headcount at the end of Q1FY23 was 351,500, a decrease of 3,800 from Q4 of 2022. Attrition declined to 23% from 26% in Q4 of 2022 and 30% in Q1 of 2022. Net cash from operating activities increased to $729 million at the end of Q1FY23, compared to $309 million a year ago and $702 million in Q4FY22.